A lady stands before an open window
Staring so far away
She can almost feel the southern wind blow
Almost touching her restless day

She turns from her window to me
Sad smile her apology
Sad eyes reaching to the door

Daylight loses to another evening
And still she spares me the word goodbye
And sits alone beside me fighting her feelings
Struggles to speak but in the end can only cry

Suddenly it's so hard to find
The sound of the words to speak her troubled mind
So I'm offering these to her as if to be kind
There's a train everyday leaving either way
There's a world, you know
There's a way to go
And you'll soon be gone, that's just as well
This is my opening farewell

A child's drawings left there on the table
And a woman's silk lying on the floor
And I would keep them here if I were able
Lock her safe behind this open door

But suddenly it's so clear to me
That I'd asked her to see what she may never see
And now my kind words find their way back to me
There's a train everyday leaving either way
There's a world, you know
You got a way's to go
And I'll soon believe, it's just as well
This is my opening farewell


Lyrics submitted by Howard55

My Opening Farewell Lyrics as written by Jackson Browne

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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My Opening Farewell song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    I see how it could be about a couple breaking up, but I see it more as a man whose daughter is moving out. I'm not sure why I see it that way, but it makes sense in that in the first verse he refers to her as "A lady" showing she's grown up and they are not so close anymore, and she needs to go out into the world for herself. Again when he mentions the "child's drawings" and "a woman's silk", he is referencing her growth again. He realizes she will never see his vision of having her close to him. But is trying to comfort her and himself by saying that she can visit often via the "train everyday, leaving either way". The next line "there's a world you know" could be spoken by the daughter who is trying to explain herself. Finally, he accepts her leaving and knowing that he will lose her more and more as she grows older and that he will repeat the process with his other children, he says "this is my opening farewell."

    OldSoul1on May 22, 2010   Link

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